Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on, or the music we’re loving.

Chris Gordon is reading The Weight of Love by Hilary Fannin

One of my friends gave me a new novel, The Weight of Love by Irish author Hilary Fannin to read during these tough times. She said, this is just for fun … but while I enjoyed reading it very much it is not a ‘fun’ story. Instead she had given me a story about the intricacies of longterm relationships, how they can fade and fester, and indeed, how life’s crossroads can be turned and tossed around. The Weight of Love is a skilfully drawn portrait of married life and it is a story that shows us why being honest and hopeful works best. Would I recommend reading this while in lockdown? It depends on what sort of ground you are standing within your own relationship. If it is blooming, give this a go. If it feels fraught, this novel can still work but be warned that you may be opening up stifled memories.

Bronte Coates is reading The Details by Tegan Bennett Daylight

A blend of memoir and literary criticism, Tegan Bennett Daylight’s new work of non-fiction is an interrogation of ‘a life in books’ and it’s a fascinating read. Her essays are intimate and thought-provoking, many dwelling in the space that lies between the books we read, and the lives we lead. For Daylight, the two (literature and life) are in constant conversation with one another and stories are part of how she makes sense of her world: a series of linked essays in the book exploring the death of Daylight’s mother opens with childhood memories of her mother giving her books when she was bored. A number of these pieces have been published previously (including Bennet’s popular essay, ‘Vagina’, which examines the aftermath of her two births), but reading them in a collected form is a different kind of experience. The Details is an excellent pick for people who write – or for those who just want to think more about writing.

Chris Somerville is reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin (translated by Megan McDowell)

At the center of Samanta Schweblin’s new novel is this concept: people can buy a toy called a Kentuki, which is a little motorised animal that follows you around on three wheels. These people come to be known as ‘keepers’. As soon as you turn the Kentuki on, it creates an uplink with a ‘dweller’, someone who moves the Kentuki about, looks through its eyes on their computer, from anywhere in the world. The dweller has no way of communication with its keeper, though the book gets to this. Moving around a host of different countries and different perspectives from both keepers and dwellers, Schewblin manages to keep the narrative moving along, and looks at different facets of this kind of relationship, without ever losing tension. The book has some incredibly unnerving sequences which you can’t bear to look away from. A true page-turner.

Ed note: This title is currently out of stock with our supplier, and we’re expecting more copies to arrive in August.